What the arts sector wants from government

Elise Sterback, Executive Director, Basement Theatre

For the last 10 years, government has relied on the "balls rolling our way" when it comes to the arts — keeping funding static, while volatile contributions trickle in from the Lotteries Board. This leaves the arts sector extremely vulnerable; when the chips are down, key organisations and infrastructure are lost and are not as easily replaced when conditions improve. The 2018 Budget does not break this mould, maintaining the exact same allocation to Creative New Zealand (CNZ), the agency which invests in the majority of arts activity in this country. It would be fair to say, that all of the artists and organisations who benefit from CNZ's support — from large leadership institutions like NZ Opera, to small community arts groups, want to see a more resilient model for government support and investment going forward.

What does this look like? Government committing to a minimum level of arts investment, ensuring people keep their jobs even when Kiwis forget to buy their Powerball ticket. Overseas, money from lotteries is only used to fund new development, not core operational expenses. Minimum investment means increasing budget lines to keep up with inflation and economic growth, roughly 4 per cent per annum. With a growing population and an ever-increasing demand for arts experiences, the sector has been forced to do more and more with less and less, meaning communities continue to lose the voices, venues and experiences they love.

Barbara Glaser, Chief Executive, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

What we'd like to see is an investment in the arts that delivers long-term cultural, social and economic value to New Zealand. There is no question as to the public value of the arts — including employment, economic growth and social wellbeing, and the sector is poised to become a key growth industry in New Zealand.

We're heartened to see that Ms Ardern, in her role as Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, has expressed a strong desire for greater recognition of the arts as a conduit to wellbeing and a sense of community. There is a growing awareness of New Zealand's place in the world and we'd like to see government investment develop a strong, resilient arts community that will enable New Zealand to stand on a world stage and attract international success. The message we've heard from the government is quite clear — that the depth and diversity of our arts sector reinforces New Zealand's international reputation as a creative and vibrant Pacific nation, and this message is absolutely in line with what APO and many other arts organisations are striving to achieve.

Nicola Legat, Chair, New Zealand Books Trust

Naturally we hope that Creative New Zealand will retain its commitment to rewarding excellence via its grants to support the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. We are very grateful for the support the awards receive from CNZ. The awards are the end of a very long pipeline for any book: when they come to be judged they may have been between two and ten years in gestation, sometimes even more. And so it is our hope that funding of authors and publishers to develop and produce great books will continue, and ideally increase.